Dracula film posters: in pictures

With the publication of The Forgotten Writings of Bram Stoker, light is shed on the origins of his world famous 1897 novel. The perfect opportunity to bring you a celebration of one of the most filmed books in history - Dracula

An obscure Hungarian film entitled The Death of Dracula shot in 1921 was the first film to feature Stoker's creation. However it was the 1922 film Nosferatu directed by FW Murnau that captured the public's imagination

The German expressionist Nosferatu was an unauthorised adaptation of Dracula. The studio was unable to obtain the rights to the book from Stoker's widow, Florence, so details were altered. The name Count Dracula was changed to Count Orlok. Max Schreck's performance as Orlok is regarded by many to be the greatest incarnation of Dracula

The stage play Dracula was the first adaptation to be authorised by Florence Stoker. It opened in 1924. In 1927 the play went to Broadway and the starring role was taken by Bela Lugosi. This poster, from a production in Los Angeles, dates from 1938

For the third of Universal's trilogy, Dracula left his native land to terrorise America. Son of Dracula was released in 1943 with Lon Chaney Jr playing Count Alucard. This weak film signalled the demise in popularity of the Lord of the Undead until his resurrection by Hammer in 1958

In 1958, the British studio Hammer made the outstanding Dracula. Casting the aristocratic Christopher Lee in the lead role and the great Peter Cushing as Van Helsing lead to a successful onscreen collaboration that lasted for over a decade

Hammer's next Dracula film didn't feature the Count at all. In fact he is only mentioned twice. So it was left to Peter Cushing to take the star turn in 1960's The Brides of Dracula, directed by Terence Fisher

Dracula AD 1972 saw Hammer tinker with the format, resurrecting the Count in swinging modern London. The film also saw the return of Peter Cushing as Van Helsing, making it the first film since 1958's Dracula to star both Cushing and Christopher Lee

Again set in modern London, 1973's The Satanic Rites of Dracula was Christopher Lee's final appearance as Dracula. He was offered a role as the Count alongside Peter Cushing in the following year's The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires but declined. With that the Hammer Dracula era was over

Director Paul Morrissey took up the undead reins for Andy Warhol's Blood For Dracula in 1974. Produced by the artist, the film is a black comedy and a less gruesome sister to Flesh for Frankenstein, which was one of the 70s' infamous video nasties

In 1979 the Dracula canon came full circle. Auteur director Werner Herzog remade FW Murnau's classic as Nosferatu the Vampyre, starring Klaus Kinski. Since then Dracula films have been few and far between, with the notable exceptions of Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula and Neil Jordan's Interview with the Vampire. For now American teenagers have taken over the genre but they will surely get their comeuppance